Diaper in garbage truck sets of radiation sensor

CARLSBAD  A trash truck pulling into a Coast Waste Management transfer station yesterday afternoon triggered a radiation sensor, and officials later determined it was caused by a diaper used by someone who had undergone chemotherapy.

The truck was giving off readings of 12 to 16 rems per hour at the facility on El Camino Real near Orion Road, a North Comm fire dispatcher said. Federal officials consider that a low level of exposure. The sensor was triggered about 1:20 p.m.

A hazardous-materials team from Camp Pendleton and San Diego as well as fire crews from Oceanside and Carlsbad responded.

The sensor was set off by an adult-sized diaper inside the truck, said Carlsbad Fire Battalion Chief Mike Lopez.

KAREN KUCHER & MICHAEL BURGE

COURT WATCH

Convicted child molester sentenced to life in prison

San Diego courts: A San Diego man accused of molesting three boys in his care during the late 1990s was sentenced yesterday to life in prison.

Steven Meredith Bimson, 65, was convicted Sept. 11 of 31 charges, most of them for lewd acts on a child. He was arrested in August 2008 in Las Vegas.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Cynthia Bashant denied a request for a new trial before sentencing Bimson to 165 years to life in prison, plus 14 years and eight months.

Bimson had been tried twice in connection with the molestations. The judge declared a mistrial the first time after it was revealed during deliberations that one of the jurors said someone tried to molest him when he was young.

The juror failed to disclose that information during the jury-selection process.

During both trials, Deputy District Attorney Wendy Patrick Mazzarella contended that Bimson molested the boys, all of whom were between the ages of 12 and 15, nearly every night. The victims came from troubled families and Bimson allowed them to live with him, first in Arizona and later in Carmel Valley.

Defense lawyer Lisa Berman Hernandez argued in trial that Bimson was a well-respected member of both communities who took in the boys, cared for them and gave them money. She said the accusations they made against Bimson were motivated by greed.

DANA LITTLEFIELD

Teacher pleads not guilty in sex-with-student case

NORTH COUNTY COURTS: A physical education teacher at Oceanside High School accused of having a two-year sexual relationship with an underage student pleaded not guilty yesterday to criminal charges.

Corey Lane Hogue, 37, faces three counts of felony unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor and two counts of misdemeanor annoying or molesting a child. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to four years in prison, prosecutors said.

He was arrested Nov. 19 during a traffic stop and booked into County Jail.

Prosecutors said the relationship between Hogue and a female student began in 2007, when the student was 15 years old. She reported the relationship to authorities in late October.

Hogue is on unpaid leave pending the outcome of the criminal case, Oceanside Unified School District officials said. He was hired in 2006 to teach physical education and health. He also coached boys varsity basketball.

DANA LITTLEFIELD

Released sexual predator is arrested in Jacumba

San Diego courts: A man classified as a sexually violent predator was arrested in Jacumba yesterday for allegedly violating the terms of his release, authorities in the District Attorney’s Office said.

David Mark Chambless, 49, was arrested without incident about 5 p.m. at his home on Old Highway 80, where he had been allowed to live under supervision. He is not accused of committing any new sex crimes.

Deputy District Attorney Phyllis Shess said Chambless recently made “incidental verbal contact” with a 17-year-old girl, possessed sexually stimulating material, failed a polygraph examination and had pepper spray in his possession, all of which are violations of his conditional release.

Shess said officials with Liberty Healthcare, the firm that monitors sexually violent predators in communities throughout the state, are expected to submit a letter to a San Diego Superior Court judge by tomorrow detailing the alleged violations. She said Liberty will recommend that Chambless be returned to a state mental hospital for additional treatment.

Chambless was convicted in 1990 of molesting two girls, ages 7 and 9, and was sentenced to 16 years in prison. After serving his prison term, he was sent to Atascadero State Hospital in San Luis Obispo County, then transferred to Coalinga State Hospital in Fresno County.

Of the five sexually violent predators released under supervision in San Diego County since 2005, four have been sent back to the Coalinga hospital. All but one were accused of violating the terms of their release.

DANA LITTLEFIELD

ACCIDENT WATCH

Woman on sidewalk killed by car in Poway

POWAY: A woman walking in Poway yesterday morning was struck and killed by a car that came up on the sidewalk, the Sheriff’s Department said.

Kristen Ann Bedard, 36, was a single mother who lived with two children in Poway. She was walking north on Community Road, south of Aubrey Street, about 7 a.m. when she was hit, said Sgt. J.T. Rothlein.

The driver of the car, Becky Anderson, 44, was arrested and booked into Las Colinas Detention Facility on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence causing great bodily injury, according to the Sheriff’s Department Web site.

Bedard was the second woman killed while walking within 48 hours.

On Saturday night, Cydil Deann Kohlmeyer was walking west on Pepper Drive near Somerlane Street in an unincorporated area near El Cajon when she was struck by a full-size Dodge pickup driven by Deborah Felix, 52, the California Highway Patrol said. Kohlmeyer, 35, of El Cajon was taken to a hospital, where she later died.

Felix was booked into County Jail on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, hit-and-run causing death and driving under the influence causing great bodily injury, according to the Sheriff’s Department Web site.

JOHN WILKENS & JOSE LUIS JIMÉNEZ

Pedestrian seriously injured in hit-and-run

CLAIREMONT: A 40-year-old woman was seriously injured yesterday after being run over by a sedan on Clairemont Drive between Iroquois Avenue and Burgener Boulevard, San Diego police said.

The woman attempted to cross Clairemont Drive at mid-block about 5:30 p.m. when she was struck by the car, which did not stop after the crash, police said. The vehicle was described as a newer model, compact, silver four-door sedan with damage to the left front area, police said.

The pedestrian was taken to a hospital and is expected to survive.

JOSE LUIS JIMÉNEZ

CRIME WATCH

Finnish woman, 54, killed in attack in Tijuana home

Tijuana: A 54-year-old Finnish citizen was killed late Sunday in Tijuana in what appears to be a home-invasion robbery, the Baja California Attorney General’s Office said.

Kaija Helena Kauppinen Conway was found dead on the second floor of the residence after the attack, with signs on her body indicating she had been beaten, the report said.

Conway’s companion, a U.S. citizen, told investigators that he and Conway were home when two assailants dressed in black and wearing hoods broke in, a police source said.

The robbers bound the man’s feet and hands with adhesive tape and demanded to know where money was located, the source said.

Once the robbers had gone and he was able to free himself, the man said he found Conway dead in the other room, where she had been bound.

At the house, investigators found an identification card indicating Conway was also a legal permanent U.S. resident.

The man is not considered a suspect and is cooperating with authorities.